


ARE WE STILL FRIENDS?

by orphan_account



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Best Friends, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Graduation, Junior year, Miscommunication, Or something more..., Pining, Senior year, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow as hell, Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Love, cliches, friends to enemies to lovers..., i feel like there's more, more to be added i suppose, this is a very cliche story okie, typical teen stupidness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:14:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22415311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Gina Porter had her whole junior year planned.Until Ricky Bowen had to screw it all up.
Relationships: Gina Porter & E.J Caswell, Ricky Bowen & Nini Salazar-Roberts, Ricky Bowen/Gina Porter
Comments: 9
Kudos: 37





	1. ARE WE STILL FRIENDS?: Mini Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ginasricky](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ginasricky/gifts).



> A new story about Ricky and Gina being best friends (or something else...) who go through a lot their respective junior and senior year? More likely than you think! 
> 
> Some things I should say before you read, even though right now there's not much to read; 
> 
> Ricky and Nini will be a thing but I didn't want to fill the Rini tag with a Rina story because you know...this is a Rina story. 
> 
> Gina will also have another love interest, I wonder who that will be.
> 
> This is all for the sake of slow burn, unrequited crushes, and pining--everyone's favorite things! 
> 
> This story will have a lot of typical teenage experiences, like parties, underage drinking, teenagers being hormonal teenagers. You know, all that good stuff. 
> 
> So yeah, if you choose to read, I appreciate it, and hopefully this story turns out the way I want it to. :)))
> 
> Yeah.

Gina Porter had a plan. 

Well...kind of. 

Junior year was approaching and from what she heard, it was definitely the hardest and most important year of her high school career. PSATS, actuals SATS, projects and more would absolutely kick her ass if she didn’t have some kind of system to help her get through the year. 

So, she created 'The Five Step Plan to a very 'successful' Junior Year’. 

**Step One:** Hire a tutor. 

That should be easy, tutors were everywhere nowadays. 

**Step Two:** No bad grades. 

That one shouldn’t be too hard, being an A+ student since elementary school had prepared her for this one. 

**Step Three:** No drama. 

In East High...that’s a little hard to attain, but, manageable. 

**Step Four:** No boys. 

Was never a problem then shouldn’t be a problem now. 

**Step Five:** Have fun. 

We’ll see about that one. 

Gina Porter had her whole junior year planned.

**Until Ricky Bowen had to screw it all up.**


	2. Catching Feelings From The Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ricky Bowen can drive. Gina Porter can not. Drives to school are always chaotic. Especially today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs for this chapter (if you want to get the vibe): 
> 
> Forever Dumb - Surf Curse  
> Hippy Hill - Grouplove  
> Undercover Martyn - Two Door Cinema Club  
> Amanaemonesia - Chairlift  
> Don’t Go Wasting Time - Alfie Templeman 
> 
> -
> 
> Ooh first chapter of this story hehe. Technically it says it's the second chapter, but really it's the first full length chapter. So sorry if that's confusing. I'm not gonna lie, this 'first' chapter is probably going to be the most boring chapter, as I'm basically just establishing some things. This chapter deals with a lot of background history so sorry if that's not your thing. I promise things will pick up in chapter two. But anyway, here's the first chapter, I hope you enjoy :)

The weather wasn’t too bad. 

**For now.**

It was only 7:39 in the morning, the morning wind keeping the heat from the blazing sun at bay. Which was fortunate for Gina as she made the trek to the Bowen residence, backpack straps tightened around her shoulders. First day of Junior Year and she still couldn’t drive. Hadn’t even begun the process of getting her permit. 

But why do all that when you have a best friend who could drive their own car. 

Richard, or ‘Ricky’ (as he preferred) Bowen, her best friend since third grade had gotten his learner’s permit at the ripe age of 16, following with a license only a few months later. There wasn’t a single day he wasn’t driving his orange jeep, cruising around town with the windows down like he had been the star of some new coming of age movie. 

Which, to be honest, Ricky Bowen was kind of the epitome of any coming of age character. 

From his awkward yet lovable personality to his rocky home life that had influenced his crazy hidden talent of singing and playing the guitar-

Ricky Bowen was definitely like most coming of age characters. 

She often teased him about it, calling him ‘Charlie’ from Perks of Being a Wallflower (because teen angst) or even ‘Stevie’ from Mid90s (because skating), where more often than not he barely understood the reference considering his taste in movies was…

Well, let’s just say Princess and The Frog was his all time favorite movie. 

But back to it being the first day of junior year, apparently the hardest year she’d have to experience in high school. Having heard the same thing from so many people, the most from her mom, who made it an effort to remind her that if she didn’t do well this year she wouldn’t be offered as many scholarships like the rest of everyone-

Which you know, **no pressure at all.**

Countless times Gina had tried to tell her mother that scholarships don’t exactly work that way, because it is way more complicated than that, but her mother was as stubborn as she was and the conversation rarely ever went further than a simple ‘I know mom.’ 

School had never been a pressing matter in her life, earning the best grades from as early as she can recall. But for some reason, as she grew older, as she entered a grade level higher each time, she often felt entirely too anxious about it all. 

And considering junior year was to be her most important, she would catch herself thinking about the worst ways the year could possibly end. She could flunk a class and hurt her transcript, she could get a horrible teacher who fails her simply because they didn’t like her and despite this being absolutely illegal, she couldn’t stop herself from...

_Thinking._

She couldn’t stop herself from thinking about it, constantly. How she would freeze up when someone other than herself reminded her how important junior year was. How her mind kind of just shut down as she’s brought back to reality, a reality she often disliked as it was filled with adults telling her what she should be, what she should do, what she should have done. 

She doesn’t know how her best friend made it through the year. 

She finally made it to his house, the two story home with garden decorations surrounding most of its perimeter. She rounded the orange jeep, walking to the porch as she blew the piece of hubba-bubba gum in her mouth, ringing the doorbell once. She stood, examining the flower pot at the corner of the door, waiting for Mr. Bowen to open the door with a big smile. She knew that Ricky wasn’t awake, he never was up this early, and now considering he was a senior with much more leisure time, she expected him to never be up before 8 a.m. 

It took approximately 12 seconds for the door to open, revealing a smiling Mr. Bowen with a coffee mug in hand that read ‘#1 Mom’. 

**Awkward.**

But it was just a mug with words on it and didn’t mean a thing, seeing as the divorce happened ages ago. If Mr. Bowen wasn’t fazed by what he drank out of, why should she? It was still a nice mug anyway. 

“Morning Gi.” 

Her nickname, which she had loved the moment he called her it, giggled as she set her backpack by the door. “Morning Mr. Bowen.” She enjoyed the cool air conditioning coming from somewhere in the house, feeling the breeze graze across her arms and legs. It was only bound to get hotter, stuck in the middle of August heat was apparently the perfect time to start school back up. 

‘Thank you Utah Board of Education, as if I didn’t hate you already.’

“Ricky’s still asleep isn’t he?” She already knew the answer, walking over to the staircase where she took off her sandals and stood on the first step with bare feet. He took a sip from his mug, “Do you even have to ask?” She shook her head with a smile and made her way up the stairs, counting the steps she took as she made it to the top. His room was at the end of the hall, a door that read ‘KEEP OUT’

What a boy. 

She reached his door and yawned, the sleeplessness catching up with her from the night before. For the longest time she could never have a goodnight’s rest before the first day of school, unlike her best friend, who could sleep without problem at any second. Her hand hovered against the door, fist closing and knuckles ready to pound against the wood that kept her from entering. Gina Porter was raised to have manners, to respect everyone she comes in contact with. 

But this was Ricky Bowen and he was not about to make her late on the first day of school. 

So she grabbed the door handle and turned it, opening it and pushing the door out dramatically to see a lump in the middle of a full sized bed. It was significantly colder in his room, the fan on, twirling on it’s highest setting, and the window opened halfway. Under the lump of blankets was a boy who snored like there was no tomorrow. Closing the door behind her she made her way over to the bed, barely missing the comforter on the floor, almost tripping as she got closer. 

Her hands pressed against the mattress as she watched the lump inhale and exhale, snorting at the drool that came out of his mouth. “Gross.” She pulled her knee upward and began climbing on the bed, over the lump and finally falling to the side, back against the dark blue fabric. She heard a groan to the left of her, movement in the softest form. 

“Good Mythical Morning to you Stevie.” 

She turned her head completely, looking at the curly headed boy who slipped in and out of sleep. His lips were beyond dry, making her squirm in need to get her chapstick and apply some to the poor guy. His hair was fluffy like it always was, certain pieces falling and sticking to his forehead. Although he definitely slobbered all over his pillow and looked like he had been asleep for years, it was a peaceful sight. A calming one. 

**Time to ruin it.**

“Ricky Bowen if you don’t wake up in the next five seconds I’m going to beat you up with your own pillow.” There’s no response, not even physical movement from him as he continues to lay like nothing would disturb his sleep. 

The silence is deafening. 

“Fine, you asked for this.” She sat up, turning her body so that she was on her knees and within one second had ripped the pillow from beneath Ricky’s head and slammed it against his back. She was strong, having no problem ripping the pillow away from the weight of his big head and hitting him with it with as much force as she could. Dancing built up her muscles and stamina ever since she was a kid, she could do this for hours. But somehow, of course, even asleep, he had been stronger than her. 

Just as she thought she was winning, the pillow was snatched away from her hands and she was pulled down by her arms to lay across his chest, her face pressed against the bed as Ricky squeezed her like she was a stuffed animal. This was a normal occurrence, having been manhandled by him more often than not because she liked to challenge strength. 

Which meant she lost more than half the time. 

**“That wasn’t fair.”** She gruffed into the bed as his hold loosened, head laying across the mattress, eyes closed like nothing happened. “You’re the one who attacked me.” His voice was lower than usual, as it happened to be in the mornings when she would wake him up in a different aggressive way each time. 

One time she had poured water on his head, which resulted in her walking home for the day. Another time she had set his hamster _(r.i.p. Cheese Ball 2018)_ on his face and practically scared him to the point where he fell off the bed and almost killed Cheeseball. 

Cheeseball died from natural causes. She thinks...

“Don’t tell me school starts soon.” He unwrapped his arms from her as she sat up, leaning against his torso as she pulled out her phone, her nails rubbing the back of her sleek black phone case. “In 50 minutes Mr. Clown.” She put the phone back in her pockets, watching the boy’s eyes open and roll like the drama queen he was.

“Why can’t we just skip,” He played with his hair, staring at the ceiling as Gina watched him with a raised eye-brow, “we can stay home all day, who needs school?” She rolled her eyes, punching his chest softly before moving closer to the edge of the bed, dangling her feet to touch the floor. 

“Just because you’re a senior now doesn’t mean you can slack the year away.” She stood, walking around to the other side of the bed and taking the comforter from the floor before reaching down and chucking it back to Ricky. “That’s literally what being a senior means.” He sat up, shoving the comforter off to the edge of the bed along with the other blankets that threatened to spill over. She smiled at his shirt, the faded _Rage Against The Machine_ shirt she got him for his 16th birthday hanging loosely from his body. 

“Get dressed, if we’re late I’m going to murder you.” 

* * *

15 minutes later Ricky was downstairs with a set of fresh clothes and a bright smile. He wore a purple shirt and ripped jeans, black vans to complete the ensemble. His normal ‘Ricky like’ attire. While he was busy getting ready she had been watching youtube videos on her phone, clicking through her saved ‘watch later’ and pretending to be intrigued by it. To her, youtube just wasn’t the same as it was when she was 8 and thought littlest pet shop animals were really living a murder mystery in high school. 

Her expectations were set too high from the very beginning.

Mr. Bowen had been in and out throughout the house, watching the news in the living room and preparing for work in his own room, the mug of coffee long forgettin in the sink. 

‘Take that Lynne Bowen. #1 Mom my a-’

“Ready to go?” Ricky stood to her, throwing his backpack on the marble countertop as Gina turned her phone off. It was now 8 something, a little under an hour before they both had to be at school. It felt surreal to her, that junior year was really about to begin. Just the other day she and Ricky had spent the entire day at a lake far away, playing sand volleyball with a group of strangers and swimming until night came, where random fireworks were set off to end the day. 

But that was summer. 

And summer’s over. 

“Yeah I’m ready.” She got up from the chair and walked over to the stairs, propping herself up on the banister as she put on her sandals. He heard Ricky zip up his backpack when Mr. Bowen appeared out of nowhere and spoke, “So Gi, are you ready for junior year?” 

The question caused her to miss her foot entirely as she tried to put on the second shoe, catching her off guard violently. Although she had been asked this many times before she hadn’t expected to hear it the day of. Ricky turned, looking at his father who stood against the couch to Gina who hung from the banister, limply holding her sandal in her hand. He could tell from the way her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water that she was uncomfortable by the sudden question, placing his backpack on before walking over to her. 

“She’s got it in the bag dad, come on,” he kneeled down and took the sandal from her hand and placed it on her foot, standing up and wrapping an arm around her shoulder, “she’s Gina Porter.” 

She laughed, hoping it didn’t sound too forceful as Ricky pulled her away from the stairs. “Junior year isn’t that hard like everyone says though... **right?”** She looked over Ricky’s arm to Mr. Bowen who had plastered a very dad-like smile on his face. **“Right?”** She whipped her head to Ricky who kept his eyes ahead, beelinging for the door to leave. 

“I’m sure you’ll be fine Gina.” She could feel the panic bubble in her chest as Ricky grabbed her bag from the door, never taking off his arm from her shoulder. “Uh yeah sure,” she craned her neck towards Ricky’s dad and mustered up a smile, “bye Mr. Bowen, have a good day!” Ricky had them out of the door in no time, Mr. Bowen waving goodbye as they maneuvered their way into Ricky’s car. 

He tossed their backpacks in the back seat before climbing into the driver’s seat and buckling in. He stared at her, raising his eyebrows, suggesting that she should do the same. Confused, she looked down at her seat to see that her hands had barely moved from her lap to get the seatbelt on. “Oh yeah, yeah sorry...” He started the car, turning his head before pulling back out of the driveway and making his way to the gas station. 

It had barely been a minute into the drive when he turned down the music, disappointing Gina who was humming along to the song. “Hey, you okay?” He rolled up to a stop sign, looking back to see if there were any cars behind him before turning to her, giving his undivided attention to his best friend who was acting uncharacteristically quiet. She drew shapes on her thighs, feeling the smoothness of the shave from the night before. “Of course, I’m good.” She stared at the stop sign, patiently waiting for him to start driving again. But he didn’t. 

“Gina, you can’t lie to me. **Try again.”**

‘Try again.’ 

That phrase was probably the most exchanged phrase between the two. They’d say it when they would catch each other lying about something. Gina liked to joke that ‘try again’ was their ‘always’. 

(She had gone through an intense ‘fault in our stars’ phase and like usual, Ricky didn’t understand any reference she made.) 

He had continued to drive, having to when another car pulled up. He was right. With being best friends with Ricky Bowen there was absolutely no way you could lie to him. She liked to think she knew herself, because a person should know themselves better than anyone else in the world. But that title wasn’t held by her, in fact, it was held by him, the boy who understood her in every complicated way. 

The last time Gina had something like this happen was when her mother had Ricky over for dinner, spaghetti and garlic bread, his favorite dinner meal. It occurred a few weeks ago and had gone well, until her mother asked Ricky what Gina needed to do in junior year. It was a general question that any parent would ask, but it was her mother’s backhanded comments followed by her condescending laugh that got to her. 

_“Gina’s smart but she could be smarter.”_

_“She’s not allowed to do liberal arts as her major, she needs something real.”_

_“Sometimes I think I should’ve put her in the spelling bee rather than ballet.”_

And of course she knows her mother loves her, only wants the best for her. But that often gets lost in translation. The rest of the dinner was sat in awkward silence, not noticed by her mother who was too busy checking her phone every minute for notifications from work. When Gina walked Ricky to his car all he did was hug her, press a kiss to her hair and tell her that he’d text her when he got home. 

That night she spent four hours talking with him about a certain fear that had come up in a matter of months. **A fear of disappointment.** For her mother. For herself. Ricky had told her, reassured that nothing she could ever do would disappoint anyone. And Gina forced herself to believe it. It was the only way that didn’t make her panic about the whole thing. 

After the phone call, she had stayed up for another hour or so, creating a plan of sorts. A plan to a ‘successful junior year.’ As cheesy as it sounded, as childish as it looked, the carefully decorated piece of paper hung on the inside of her closet door. It had the color scheme of the ocean, crisps blues and beiges covered the corners of the printer paper as the middle was occupied by the major five steps. 

**Step One:** Hire a tutor. 

**Step Two:** No bad grades. 

**Step Three:** No drama. 

**Step Four:** No boys. 

**Step Five:** Have fun. 

Some easier than others. 

A few weeks ago the plan wasn’t at the top of her priorities. She wasn’t necessarily thinking about it 24/7. But now it’s the first day of school and the piece of paper that once hung on her closet door is now stuffed in her homework folder. 

“I just...I’m nervous again I guess.” 

“I’m sorry my dad asked you that, I should’ve-” 

“No Ricky, it’s not his fault. Or yours, it’s not anyone’s fault. It’s just me being anxious, which is normal, it’s okay.” The urgency in her voice picked up as she finished the sentence, her hands waving around in front of her, not exactly sure what to do. Ricky pulled into the gas station with a sharp turn causing Gina to move forward as the seatbelt restricted. “Ow.” 

“Sorry.” 

He scanned the gas station before finding an open spot and pulling in, parking quite crookedly. Ricky was never great at parking, seemingly having skipped that lesson when he was getting his permit. She stared at where the time would be shown if he hadn’t shut off his car as soon as he parked. “There’s no reason for you to be anxious about anything Gi. You’re gonna be fine-” 

“Can we not talk about this,” she turned her had to look at Ricky with pleading eyes, the softness in her voice making Ricky’s shoulders slump, “please?” 

He nodded and shrugged. “Yeah, okay if you want.” 

The ride had taken a total of five minutes. Things in SLC were relatively close, the drive from Ricky’s house to school without going to the gas station probably took less than five minutes if he avoided traffic. Gina tapped her phone and looked at the numbers on the top of her screen. 

_8:35 am._

About 20 minutes before they had to be at school. 

“Change of topic then,” Gina looked back at Ricky, turning off her phone as she unbuckled the seatbelt, “I’m going to do something I’ve never done this year.” She raised her eyebrow at the boy who sat giddy in the driver’s seat, the sheepish smile growing with every passing second. 

“Uh, what does that mean?” 

“I’m going to ask Nini out.” 

She couldn’t help her eyes go wide, her body stilling as Ricky smiled a goofy grin. She wasn’t sure if she was breathing, or even blinking as Ricky started talking again, either not noticing her reaction or choosing to ignore it. Probably the latter. 

“So like, I know she barely knows who I am but-” 

“Hold on-” 

She turned fully in her seat, pulling her legs up as her back leaned against the car door, her head pushing forward as she tried to process what she had heard. 

“You’re gonna like...date...like **boyfriend-girlfriend?”** She noticed Ricky’s smile falter and wanted so bad to take what she had asked. She didn’t mean it in a mean way, that’s the last thing she wanted. It’s just that…

Well Nini Salazar-Roberts is definitely one of the _prettiest_ girls Gina Porter had ever seen. She was also extremely popular. But not in the way the popular girl was in those cliche teen movies, where they were always bratty and snotty and plain out rude. Nini wasn’t that. Sure she was the captain of the cheerleading squad at EHS and sure she had thousands of followers and sure, she had almost every boy at EHS falling at her feet when she entered the room, but she was never obnoxious about it. She was humble. And sweet. And nice.

But she was also very **unattainable.**

Although it was true most boys at school would go crazy for her and even went as far as to ask her out, like Ricky was planning to do, a messy break-up in Sophomore year had led to her have extremely high expectations. Expectations that most boys couldn’t meet. 

Gina learned in her eighth grade year, while Ricky was in the midst of being an awkward freshmen, that he had developed a crush on the pretty girl who sat next to him in his Algebra 1 class. When he showed her a picture of her, internally she thought he didn’t have a chance. But she simply nodded her head and told him good luck. 

Three years later, Ricky and Nini are seniors while Gina is a junior and the crush had only grown. At this point it felt like Ricky had an entirely too intense infatuation with the cheerleader who had spoken to him only a handful of times. So when Ricky, not only seconds prior, told her about his own personal plan, she couldn’t help her body from freezing. 

“Well...I mean yeah…” He frowned, Gina’s reaction causing him to falter in on himself. Gina mentally slapped herself as she watched Ricky rub his thumb over the steering wheel. “I know it’s stupid because she barely knows me and we barely talk but it’s my last year here,” 

**‘Ouch.** Let’s not think about that.’

She bit her lip, her hands squeezing in her lap as she watched him take a big sigh. “You know, like, my last opportunity to get the girl? I just...I don’t know maybe it’s stupid.” 

She never wanted to kick herself more than now. 

“No Ricky, I’m sorry, I’m just shocked is all. I just didn’t know you wanted to ask her out.” She leaned forward, a shy smile tugging her lips as she caught sight of the boy with a displeasing look on his face. “It’s not stupid, Ricky. And if you say you’re gonna get the girl, **you’re gonna get the girl.”** She placed a hand on his shoulder, urging him to be happy again. 

He was a stubborn boy, she knew this. But she was also stubborn, and if anyone could break them, it was each other. 

“I’m gonna get the girl.” He sat up straight in his seat, a newfound confidence growing in him as Gina pulled back, the happiness returning to her best friend in the matter of seconds. “Hell yeah you are.” 

“Now before you ask her out, what are-”

“HOLY SHIT!” The yell came out of nowhere, scaring Gina so much she knocked her head against the window. Wincing she looked around, her heart beating fast as the boy next to her slumped far down in his seat. “RICKY WHAT THE HELL?” Her head hurt. 

**“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.”** The boy in question (and in danger if he didn’t answer her question soon) rubbed his hands over his eyes as if he saw something he didn’t want to-

“Hey Seb, you sure you don’t want anything?” Gina heard that voice before. And she knew that name. She turned her head to her right, glancing at the car a parking spot over. Her eyes went wide. 

“Holy shit.” 

There stood Nini, clad in a red polka-dot sundress, keys janglin in one hand while a wristlet hung from her wrist. Her mouth fell open, the timing of it all catching up to her. She watched as Seb, Nini’s best friend, a sweet blonde boy who waved his hand in the passenger seat of her red audi cabriolet. In the back was a girl and a boy, two redheads whose names had slipped her mind. 

Nini turned, her dress swirling as she entered the gas station, the doors sliding opened and closing immediately. She stared at the closed doors before turning to stare at Ricky, who had grown a blush on his cheeks. “Ricky-” 

“We need to go.” He quickly sat up again and attempted to start the car but Gina somehow managed to pull the keys out before he could do anything, causing Ricky to let out a jumble of panicked words. “Dude!” 

“No, YOU dude! Don’t you see what this means?” She stared at him with a crazy look, her mind racing a mile a minute. “What are you talking about?” Gina could sense the panic in his voice, the way he fidgeted in his seat reminded her of many instances in his sophomore year where they sat at lunch together and Nini just so happened to walk by. They wouldn’t even interact, yet he’d get all worked up and almost pass out. 

“We were literally just talking about her and she’s somehow suddenly here? That means **something.”**

“It’s a local gas station, everyone goes here before school. It’s just a coincidence, now give me back my keys please.” He held out his hand, an impatient look growing on his face. Gina kept the keys clutched in her hands as she looked back at the store. 

One second she’s sitting in the passenger seat, the next she’s halfway out the car, planting her feet on the concrete and shutting the door behind her. She looked at Ricky who’s eyes were as wide as can be, struggling to get his seatbelt off. She rounded the car and stood in front of it, stuffing the keys in her pocket as Ricky barely made it out of his car.

“No, no, get back in the car ple-” 

“Richard Bowen, you’re getting the girl.” She stood a few inches under him, her stance causing her body to shrug under his tall frame. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her hip was sticking out, a very determined look on her face. Yeah there was no way he was gonna win this one. 

“You’re gonna go in there, and as awkward as it might be, you’re gonna talk to her. You’re gonna be your charming self and you’re gonna get her number, somehow, someway, and you’re gonna get the girl.” She was speaking fast but hadn’t managed to stumble over any words, which really helped drive the message home. Ricky stared at her, his mouth opened wide before growing into a smile. “Gina I don’t know…”  
  


“This is your last chance. _Remember?”_

She walked backwards, her hand extending behind her in hopes he would start moving. He stood, his hands pressed to his sides as the sun beat down on them. “Okay, I’m gonna do this.” He walked forward, past her, as Gina grinned. Maybe she should be a motivational speaker. 

They entered the gas station, Gina finding relief at the cool air conditioning that hit her body like a tidal wave. She spotted Nini on the other side of the store, holding a cup of what seemed to be fro-yo as she looked at the shelf of snacks. She pushed him in her direction, earning a scowl and a glare as she raised her hand and gave him a thumbs up before walking in the opposite direction. 

Ricky watched as she disappeared behind a shelf of phone accessories, his heart racing as he realized he was left alone. He turned back to Nini, who still stood in the same spot, eating her fro-yo with her keys hung in the crook of her elbow. He rubbed his sweaty hands on his jeans before making his way over. 

**Here goes nothing.**

* * *

Gina pulled out her phone as she calmed herself, pretending she was looking at something and not waiting for Ricky to make a move on Nini. She opened snapchat, clicking on the first story without reading the name. “Snacks before class!” read over a selfie of Nini and her friends in her car. 

_Posted 10 minutes ago._

If only Gina opened snapchat 10 minutes ago, maybe Ricky would have more time to prepare going up to her in a gas station. 

Oops. 

She sighed as she watched through more stories, not really paying attention to what was posted. She just wanted to look busy as she aimlessly walked through the aisle. She glanced at the coffee machine diagonally from her and felt the growing desire to drink some at that very moment.

Even if it was 1000 degrees. 

But the wallet she left in Ricky’s car mocked her. It had been a total of five minutes before she heard a loud crash from the other side of the store. She whipped her head around, pushing away the feeling of whiplash as she made her way over to where the sound came from. When she rounded the aisle she saw a display of lighters on the ground, scattered across the tile floor. There stood Nini staring down at the mess while Ricky was crouched down, collecting the ones he could reach. She winced, the second hand embarrassment growing in her as she could hear Ricky laughing awkwardly. 

She watched as Nini placed her fro-yo on the counter before leaning down and grabbing lighters as well. She smiled at Ricky who Gina only assumed smiled back, a blush growing on his cheeks. She tilted her head as she watched the exchange, Ricky lifting up the display and putting it back on the counter. 

Nini stood up and placed the lighters back on the display, giggling and leaning into the boy which caused Gina to raise her eyebrow in surprise. Part of her felt like she was intruding in on a moment so she made her way back into the aisle, this time scanning the snacks with no intention of buying anything. 

Not even a minute later she heard the bell of the store doors opening as Nini made her way out, Gina catching the tail end of her red dress. Well that could have either gone really well or really-

**“I’m amazing.”** Ricky was in front of her in an instant, a dazed look on his face as his arms hung limply beside him. Gina stared at him, uncertainty clouding her judgement. She opened and closed her mouth like a fish (for the third time that morning), unsure of what to say. 

“I got her number.” 

Gina could be a mannequin at this point with how suddenly she freezes. “You...how?” She began walking with him out of the store, Nini’s car already gone and off it’s way to school. It was Gina’s turn to be in a daze as she handed Ricky back his keyes, opening the door and hissing at the hot leather. 

“I just...asked…” He pushed the key in and started the car, waiting for the cool air to start before he began to pull out. “You just...asked...and she gave it to you?” That doesn’t sound like Nini Salazar-Roberts at all. “She said she remembered me from a class last year. Physics. She said she thought I was cute.” Gina chokes on nothing but air, coughing into her arm as Ricky drove out of the gas station. 

“I don’t think it’s hit me.” 

“Yeah, you’re extremely too calm right now.” She looked at the boy next to her, who ran a hand through his hair at the red stoplight. She still can’t wrap her head around the fact that he got her number. How the hell did he go from knocking over a lighter display case to getting a hot girl’s number? Is Nini into idiots? Is her best friend secretly really smooth? 

“Holy shit, I’m really gonna get the girl huh?” He started to drive again, a giggle erupting from his chest as he shook his shoulders in a happy motion. All Gina could do was stare at her best friend, who had seemed to have gone from being dazed to extremely happy. 

“Yeah,” 

She turned into her seat, her mind beginning to think again, 

**“I guess you are.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, if you read, thank you so much! This is the 'first' chapter to a series I plan to do. I'm very excited because I have a whole plan and I just love Rina a lot. Gollie the way this story is gonna pull a 180 and leave some of you in shambles...can't wait. But there has to be calm before the storm right? So anyway, again, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.

**Author's Note:**

> I am VERY excited about this story, and also VERY nervous. Because yeah I do have a whole layout of how this will all go down, the only hard part is...well writing it. But yes, this will be a multi-chapter fic that I plan to write because I thought of this *not unique at all* story one day and decided "yeah...I'm gonna do it." So here's the mini ass prologue or summary or whatever, but nonetheless, a little snippet to keep you all interested!!!
> 
> Also this is definitely a gift to @valsloki, as my #1 supporter, I love you.


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